Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology

Can patient-reported outcome data predict escalation of therapy in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis?


Dr. Michael Bubb

Email
bubbmr@medicine.ufl.edu

Phone
(352) 294-8203

Faculty Department/Division
Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology

This project is primarily:
Clinical

Research Project Description:
In a treat-to-target (T2T) approach to rheumatoid arthritis (RA), a quantifiable measure of disease activity should be used to determine if patients are in remission, and if not, then therapy should be escalated to achieve the target of remission. The most common measure used in the United States are patient-reported outcome (PRO) data from the RAPID-3. The standard of care for RA patients is to use these PRO data to guide therapy, with a numerical cut-off determining whether remission criteria have been met. However, many patients self-report high levels of pain and poor levels of function due to co-morbidities. In this study we will ask whether a change in RAPID-3 score is a better indicator for a change in therapy than the standard practice of using a numerical cut-off. IRB approval has been obtained to review existing PRO data from the UF rheumatology clinics. A comparison will be made between the association of numerical scores and a change in numerical scores with escalation of therapy. These results are likely to change the paradigm for T2T in RA. Results will be presented at the American College of Rheumatology annual meeting in November 2023.

Does this project have an international component or travel?
Potentially

Evaluation of Inflammatory Fibrosing Diseases


Dr. Catalina Sanchez Ann Chauffe

Email
catalina.sanchez@ufl.edu

Phone
(954) 261-7748

Faculty Department/Division
Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology

This project is primarily:
Clinical

Research Project Description:
Inflammatory fibrosing diseases, such as retroperitoneal fibrosis, orbital pseudotumor and fibrosing mediastinitis, are poorly understood entities. They can involve multiple organ systems and are often corelated with varying etiologies. We seek to better understand these disorders by looking at the epidemiology, demographics and treatment response from patients within the University of Florida Health System. We envision the project to culminate in a manuscript that be completed in a summer elective.

Does this project have an international component or travel?
No